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Students
Tom Mousley Scholarships
Applications due May 30, 2010!
The Society of Commercial Arboriculture is offering a $2,000 financial scholarship to students majoring in Arboriculture, Urban Forestry, or Horticulture in a 4-year program and a $1,000 financial scholarship to students majoring in Arboriculture, Urban Forestry, or Horticulture in a 2-year program.
For complete details and an application please click here.
2009 Winners
SARAH ELIZABETH BALL
Sarah Elizabeth Ball of Knoxville, Tenn., is no stranger to hard work. Maintaining a 4.0 departmental GPA in the University of Tennessee's Plant Sciences department, Ball is a junior undergraduate student concentrating her studies in Landscape Design and Construction and Public Horticulture. On top of her outstanding academic achievements, she also works part-time and completes internships to advance her arboricultural career.
One such internship was with the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation in Boston, Mass., a partner with the National Park Service (NPS). While there, Ball participated in the Arborist Training Program, which prepares NPS employees to take the ISA Certification test. Though she had always been interested in arboriculture, the University of Tennessee does not offer any courses in the science. This training was her first exposure to arboriculture, and she says that it "has greatly influenced" her career goals. Now, after graduation, Ball plans to become an ISA Certified Arborist and then continue her education by pursuing a dual Master's degree in Landscape Architecture and Urban Forestry. Eventually, she says she "would love to work with a local government or a non-profit agency, specifically working with city planners, educating them on tree selection and the importance of investing in good tree care."
Ball is a world-traveler, having studied abroad in Costa Rica where she got the chance to check out tree species she would never get to see in Tennessee. At her internship in Boston, she also got to study her share of interesting environs as she worked at three national historic parks and coordinated events for educating urban youth in arboricultural practices. Ball's interests in arboriculture are very well-rounded; she lists them as everything from stormwater run-off and filtration to eco-psychology to tree climbing. With a résumé like that, it's easy to see why she calls arboriculture her "dream career"--and why she has earned this year's scholarship.
ANDREW McKENRICK
Andrew McKenrick of Cincinnati, Ohio, is another traveler currently exploring the trees of a different continent. But, that doesn't mean he has lost his ardor for his hometown. The Master of Science in Arboriculture and Urban Forestry student at Myerscough College in Lancashire, England, is hoping to return home to, in his own words, apply his "skills and knowledge to help the city of Cincinnati create more green space within its urban communities and educate the people within the urban landscape to practice proper horticulture techniques." This is all after he completes his studies and a tour of Europe to see how arboriculture and urban forestry takes shape in other cities internationally.
Initially earning a Bachelor's degree in Communications from the University of Cincinnati, McKenrick decided two years ago to go back to school and pursue his real passion-plants. "I was always interested in trees from a young age," McKenrick says when asked how his interest in arboriculture was first sparked. "I love heading into the woods to camp and observe the trees around me. I love to garden and plant and maintain trees, as well. I am quite amazed by their power and the many benefits they contribute to society. I guess the true spark happened about two years ago when I decided to go back to college to receive a certificate in horticulture. My woody plants professor had a great impact on the way I perceive trees, and that is what led to pursuing a degree in arboriculture and urban forestry."
McKenrick worked under that same professor during his time as the horticulture technician at Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum in Cincinnati. Planting, pruning, chipping, felling, detecting stress and decline-he did it all. This was essential preparation for his ever-continuing education in arboriculture. Since McKenrick is an international student, he is not eligible for financial aid through his school program, and upon learning of his being awarded the scholarship, he says this "tremendous" help had "made his day."
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